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L.M. Elliott

L.M. Elliott


Laura Elliott grew up just outside Washington D.C., and came of age during the Vietnam War protests and Watergate, so she was very aware of history in the making. One of her first clear memories was of JFK’s tragic assassination. Fast upon that came the killing of his brother Bobby and another man of eloquence, Martin Luther King. From her front door she could see the distant dark clouds hanging over the capital city as it burned with the agonized riots that followed his shooting.

But her love of history came from knowing a number of elderly ladies in what was then a small town community. At garden parties, over fresh-squeezed lemonade, she heard talk of history — but not about dates, battles, or political figures. It was personal, about how their relatives (or they) survived hard times, how mothers worried about their children during epidemics and wars, where they were when Pearl Harbor was attacked and how they helped the war effort afterwards. From them she learned that history is a very human drama.

Elliott graduated from Wake Forest University and holds a masters degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina. A long-time senior writer for the Washingtonian magazine, Elliott was twice a finalist for the National Magazine Award and recipient of numerous Dateline awards. She wrote often on children, women’s issues, and health.

Elliott’s first YA historical novel, Under a War-torn Sky, grew out of an article about her father’s experiences as a B-24 pilot with the French Resistance during World War II. The book went on to win numerous awards and Elliott continued its story in A Troubled Peace, set in post-war France, and with a homefront companion story, Across a War-tossed Sea. As a former journalist, she’s also “reported” on other important historical events through her books, including the Revolutionary War in Hamilton and Peggy! and Give Me Liberty; the Cold War with the Grateful American Book Prize-winning Suspect Red and Walls; and the civil rights movement in Flying South. She recently authored another WWII novel, Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves

Elliott has also authored five picture books with New York Times best-selling illustrator, Lynn Munsinger: Hunter’s Best Friend at School, Hunter and Stripe and the Soccer Showdown, and Hunter’s Big Sister; plus a Valentine’s Day book, A String of Hearts, and a celebration of Thanksgiving, titled Thanksgiving Thanks

Elliott lives in Northern Virginia.  

Books by this author

Close up of young military man

A Troubled Peace

L.M. Elliott
Age Level:
YA
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2010
A Troubled Peace

A Troubled Peace

L.M. Elliott
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2010
WWII soldier at POW camp in rural Virginia with battle ships nearby

Across A War-Tossed Sea

L.M. Elliott
Age Level:
Middle Grade, YA
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2014
Annie, Between the States

Annie, Between the States

L.M. Elliott
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2004
Flying South

Flying South

L.M. Elliott
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2003
Illustration of Revolutionary War soldiers

Give Me Liberty

L.M. Elliott
Age Level:
Middle Grade
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2006
Suspect Red

Suspect Red

L.M. Elliott
Age Level:
Middle Grade, YA
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Sepia-toned illustration of WWII fighter pilot running across field in France with a child and bomber plane overhead

Under a War Torn Sky

L.M. Elliott
Age Level:
Middle Grade, YA
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2003
Walls

Walls

L.M. Elliott
Age Level:
YA
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2021